For All The Whovians In The Audience: A Find

The rebirth of the Dr. Who series apparently owed itself to some chit chat at a cocktail party.

Fun story about how work actually gets done in the world.  How many times in your life has you heard this same story about some project or another getting its start in an innocuous conversation over booze in a lounge or after meeting blahbity blah session or something like that?  A lot, that's what.

Clearly I need to hang out at better cocktail parties.

Or at least ones filled with writer-types and editors who are looking for them.  Of course, it would help if my chemo brain would subside and I would get back to actual writing, too...

For The Trekkies Out There...

Apparently, at a Star Trek convention in London, they got all of the actors who played captains on the various Star Trek franchise series together on one stage. 

William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew, Avery Brooks, and Scott Bacula...hilarious stuff.  The panel is being interviewed by John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack on Doctor Who and Torchwood.  Holy cow!

The camera work is a little hinky, because it is a fan in the crowd who is filming.  But the back and forth with everyone is a hoot and a half.  Enjoy!

PS -- I giggled like a little girl at about 14:45 or so.  Seriously funny.

How Did I Miss This?

A friend sent me a link to a scene from Laura Linney's show "The Big C." I laughed until I had tears streaming down my face and then some.

How did I miss this show?

And, more importantly, why am I not watching it right this second???!!??

Getting Ready For More Game of Thrones? Boo Yah!

Who doesn't love some more Game of Thrones?

Can't wait until March 8th, can you?

Dear People At Dr. Who

Dear People At Dr. Who:

If you have noticed an up-tick in your ratings in the State of West Virginia, US of A?

It may be because my nine-year-old, Dr. Who-obsessed child has made it her mission to introduce every child she knows to your show.  She's a wee bit obsessed, especially with the weeping angels.

You are welcome.

Hugs and sonic screwdrivers,
Christy

PS -- How awesome is it that The Peanut is a science fiction fan?  Yee haw.

A Day Of Downton Abbey

Apologies for not posting yesterday.

Having missed the entire first two seasons of Downton Abbey -- and spent so much time hearing from friends how I really needed to watch it, blah, blah, blah? I finally popped it in the Netflix queue and sat down to watch an episode yesterday morning.

I ended up watching the entire first season in a single day.

Once it began, I could not stop watching it. I had to pry myself away from the show for a few minutes to pick up The Peanut from school and take a clothing and toy donation over to Mr. ReddHedd's office for a family who had lost everything in a flood this week.

And then?  It was right back to Lady Mary and the Dowager Countess.

I am well and truly hooked.  Mostly because Maggie Smith is, as always, a hoot and a half with her understated smackery.  Love her.

Clearly, I needed a day of escapism yesterday.  But the force with which it hit left me totally unprepared.  Has that ever happened to you, where you just fall down an activity, book, television or movie rabbit hole?  What's your escapist guilty pleasure?  Do share!

Who Wants More Game Of Thrones? Me!!

Nice teaser clip of the second season of Game of Thrones, already in production for next year.

Boo yah!

New Kids Shows Funny For Grown-Ups, Too

Bless the people who make Phineas and Ferb.  And the new Looney Tunes Show as well.

Ever since we got lucky enough to have The Peanut, my world has been filled with cartoons of all sorts.  We've tried to edit out the truly awful or annoying ones (Barney, anyone?  *shudder*)  And while we've been moderately successful at keeping the truly odious ones off our television, it is not a foolproof system by any means.

Yesterday, we had to deal with a marathon of Dragonball Z Kai, for example.  Put any cartoon in anime style, and The Peanut loves it.  Even the poorly written, badly scripted, no real socially redeeming anything kinds, she is right there. 

So we try to encourage the better shows where we can.  Especially the well written, amusing even for geezers shows that we can all enjoy together.

And that is where Phineas and Ferb come in -- there have to be parents in the writing mix on that show, there is no other explanation for its snide, snarky take on life in the absurdly amusing lane. 

I now fully understand why my father encouraged my watching Bugs Bunny when I was a kid -- it was self-preservation along with some serious fun, all bundled into one Looney Tunes show.  Bless him.

My New TeeVee Addiction: The Judds

I'm addicted to the new documentary-style show that The Judds are doing on Oprah Winfrey's new OWN network.

Maybe it is because I loved a lot of their songs growing up (YouTube), and remember watching them perform on the Grammys and CMAs and loving their sassy redheaded spitfire attitudes (YouTube).  (We redheads do have our own way about us, don't we?)  Or maybe it is because I come from similar hillbilly stock.

But it is like watching all my own family secrets spill forward in some episodes, and a little like television therapy in other instances.

Whatever the reason, I'm riveted by this show, even when it is so painful that I'm sobbing into my cuppa coffee as I watched this week's episode from Tivo.

Granted, we're going through yet another family health crisis at the moment -- this time with my father-in-law barely clinging to life at the moment -- so my emotions are pretty raw and at the surface right now.  Family is such an important and powerful force in our lives, isn't it?  Watching The Judds try to make sense of themselves helps me think about untangling my own past as well.

Anyone else watching it and having the same reaction?  Do tell...

Interviews with The Judds here and here.  (Both links are YouTubes.)  A serious hoot.